merry christmas

Mele Kalikimaka, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Feliz Navidad, Fröhliches Weihnachten, Veselé vánoce, Lystig Jul, Joyeux Noël, Buon Natale, Natal feliz, Munter jul, Craciun fericit!

new graduates - jai tomlinson and andrew rothery

Great work and well done guys. Best of luck!

best christmas tree!

david hardstaff flys solo!

Congratulations David on your first solo today! Great work.

andrew passes his cplh flight test

Dark clouds and torrential rain could not stop Andrew from achieving one of his most important flights of his training ... it would be his CPLH flight test with Captain Mike Becker.

After two hours of flying, Andrew successfully pass his test! Relieved, he is happy to say he thought the test went better than expected.

Avoiding the customary hose dousing ceremony (walking far away from the hanger and keeping an eye on suspicious students with hoses), he was drenched with a cool cold bottle of water from behind. No harm done, and besides, it was 32 degrees!

Congratulations Andrew! Great work!

jai passes his cplh flight test

Two years, a few months, one baby girl and a few days of part time training this special day has come! We welcome new CPLH Captain Jai Tomlinson. Well done buddy! Great work ;-)

new graduate - matt finegan

Congratulations and well done to Matt on passing his CPLH flight test last month and graduating. Your hard work has not gone unnoticed. We appreciate your help and your volunteered time.

Your thanks and gratitude to former Instructor Matt Wilson was very humbling. Good luck buddy ... we will miss you!

east timor delegation

In November 2010 Becker Helicopters and the Secretariat for Natural Resources Government of Timor-Leste (SERN) established an affiliation. As part of the Timor-Leste Government's human resources plans, Becker Helicopters was chosen to train a select group of Timorese nationals, ensuring they graduate with a Commercial Helicopter Pilots Licence.

Twelve months on our group of four male cadets have all completed General English, Aviation English, various Theory subjects and CASA exams as well as Flight Training (currently they are on Navigation flights). The girls are studying General English after arriving eight months after the guys.

Left to right (foreground) Julio, Ambrosio and Fredelino (background) Emiliana, Pedro and Christiana.

On 19 November 2011 Becker Helicopters was proud to host the Secretary of State for Natural Resources Timor-Leste, H.E. Alfredo Pires. Mr Pires is in charge of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, before this he was the Natural Resource Advisor to the President of the Republic of Timor-Leste. His priority is to develop Timorese human resources and engage the Timorese people in the petroleum industry.

Traveling with a Timorese film crew, Mr Pires and his SERN delegates were given a VIP tour of the school by Captain Mike Becker. The visit concluded two days of filming with the aim to inform the Timorese public about SERN's scholarship programs and to showcase the Timorese students in their study environment. This film will run on Timorese state television.

The day included Mr Pires' flying with Mike Becker in the Squirrel following Emiliana and Cristiana, with Flight Instructor James Orrom, to the helicopter training area.

At the end of the day a Signing Ceremony cemented the relationship between SERN and Becker Heilcopters.



A great day was had by all!

happy birthday

Happy Birthday, last month, to theory instructor Geoff Shaw! Question? How do you get a rating on this?

first solo

Lisa Kearon has a passion to fly helicopters. She kicked started her training in January of this year - self studying theory and flying part time on her weeks off from the mines.

We congratulate Lisa and her amazing effort in flying first solo on 7 November 2011. Great work, well done!